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‘Friends’ Child Star Cole Sprouse Says His Mother Squandered His Fortune

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Leena Nasir Entertainment Reporter
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Famous actor Cole Sprouse gave fans a rare glimpse into his personal life on Wednesday’s episode of “Call Her Daddy,” alleging his mother squandered the fortune he earned as a child actor by the time he was 10 years old.

Sprouse told podcast host Alex Cooper his mother took her one-year-old twins to auditions so she wouldn’t have to maintain a job. His estranged mother, Melanie Wright, allegedly took all his earnings and eventually lost custody of her children.

“It was a means to put bread on the table,” Sprouse said about his young start in the entertainment industry.

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this … When my father was given forced custody, we had pretty much lost everything from the youngest parts of our career. That would be ‘Friends’ and ‘Big Daddy,’ and a lot of that. My mother was an incredibly wonderful and artistic woman, but she was financially the most irresponsible person ever,” he said, speaking about the time in his life leading up to his role on the hit Disney Channel series, “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.”

He said twin child actors are “a great labor exploit” because “babies can only work for a certain amount of hours, so you double the time if you have two of them that look identical.”

“It was like the golden ticket from Willy Wonka, it was a great means to an end,” Sprouse said on the podcast about acting at a young age. (RELATED: ‘I Don’t Care About My Life’: Cara Delevingne Describes The Depths Of Her Addiction)

Sprouse said his mother suffered from “some kind of madness,” telling Cooper he does not currently have a relationship with her “at all.”

“In truth, she lost her mind,” he said. “I think it was the consequence of some weird alchemy of addiction and mental instability and it’s probably the greatest wound in my life, and also the greatest driving force for my continuing in this industry.”

 

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But despite his allegedly tumultuous relationship with his mother, Sprouse seemingly has no regrets.

“I have now been granted a life of primarily financial stability and surplus in very many cases that is the biproduct of working for 30 years and sort of trading in my childhood, but I don’t regret it at all,” Sprouse said.

“I know that there’s definitely resentment, there’s definitely some things I have to work through, but no. If I were given the same choice again, I’d probably do it again.”